History

Rennie's
Mill got its name from a Canadian businessman
named Alfred Herbert Rennie,
who established the Hong Kong Milling Company at Junk Bay (his
partners were Paul Chater and H.N. Mody). The business
failed, and Rennie drowned himself there in 1908, but was
mistakenly reported that he hanged himself to death at thay time.
The incident gave the Chinese name
for the site 吊頸嶺 (Tiu Keng Leng / Jyutping:
diu3 geng2 leng5), meaning "Hanging (neck) Ridge". Because it was
inauspicious, the name was later changed to similar sounding 調景嶺
(Tiu King Leng / Jyutping: tiu4 ging2 leng5, which can be loosely
translated "ridge of adjusting situation".)

On
June 26, 1950 the
Hong Kong Government's Social
Welfare Office (the predecessor of the Social Welfare Department)
settled a considerable number of refugees
from China - former
Nationalist soldiers and other Kuomintang
supporters (according to official government account, there were
6,800 of them) - at Rennie's Mill, following the Chinese Civil War. The Hong Kong
Government's original intention was to settle these refugees temporarily before they would be
repatriated to Taiwan by the Kuomintang
or to Mainland China by the Chinese
Communist. But this day never came for the Kuomintang (under the auspices of a
political-oriented charitable body named Free China Relief
Association which became prominent after the government suspended
food ration in 1953), the residents of the enclave became more
supportive to the Kuomintang cause.
Thus, by
the late-1950s, in correlation with the Cold War context in Asia at
the time, Rennie's Mill gradually became a Little Taiwan and a
Bastion Against Communism, with the flag of the Republic of China
flying, its own school system and
practically off-limits to the Royal
Hong Kong Police Force until 1962 when the Hong Kong Government
decided to turn it into a resettlement estate due to its
apprehension of the growing Kuomintang
presence in the enclave. It also had a significant
missionary presence. Despite its pro-Kuomintang atmosphere, the 1967 Riots did not
have an effect on Rennie's Mill.

Transport

Before the redevelopment and reclamation in the surrounding area,
Rennie's Mill could be reached by the winding, hilly and narrow
Po Lam Road South, which ran past
numerous busy quarries. At that time, Rennie's Mill's only means of
public transport were the routes 90 and 290 of Kowloon Motor Bus, which were operated by
minibuses, and by water transport.